Bellator 187 Peaks at 1 Million Viewers for Conor McGregor In-Cage Incident

Bellator MMA took advantage of another promotion’s star to boost ratings for a tape-delayed card this past Friday.

According to a Spike official, Bellator 187 peaked at 1 million viewers (DVR +3) during the first quarter hour of the broadcast. That, of course, is about the time when Conor McGregor jumped into the cage to celebrate SBG Ireland teammate Charlie Ward’s victory over John Redmond. After being asked to leave, McGregor shoved and shouted at referee Marc Goddard before exiting the cage. More video footage captured the UFC lightweight champion slapping at a Bellator MMA employee from outside the cage.

Bellator 187 took place at 3Arena in Dublin and was completed by the afternoon in the United States. The California-based organization capitalized on McGregor’s presence by promoting the incident on its Twitter account before the tape-delayed broadcast aired in the United States.

McGregor and Goddard recently both issued statements on the situation.

Bellator 187 saw A.J. McKee finish Brian Moore with a rear-naked choke 42 seconds into the third round of the featherweight main event. The card was initially supposed to be headlined by SBG Ireland prospect James Gallagher before he was forced to withdraw due to injury. All told, the card averaged 621,000 viewers (DVR +3).